Istanbul has to be one of the best places so far and definitely the most different. We spent 4 days in the city at two different hostels. Our first one, the Sydney Hostel, was basically a hotel. The three of us (Ghazal, Rochelle, & I) had our own room and bathroom. There was an upstairs outdoor area on the roof with views of the city & Black Sea. The day we arrived we grabbed lunch and then cleaned up since we had just slept 6 hours in the London/Gatwick airport before boarding the 3.5 hour long flight to Istanbul. We then visited the famous Blue Mosque & Hagia Sophia which are right across from each other and were only a few minutes from our hostel. A guy we ran into gave us an informal free tour before trying to sell us things from his shop. At night we walked down one of the main streets in Istanbul and found a good, authentic looking restaurant to eat at. I had Turkish ravioli and a crepe.
One of the sad features of the city was the amount of homeless women and children that we'd see on the sidewalks trying to collect money. At times there might only be a 2-3 year old girl with a little bowl for change. At one point Ghazal put a couple coins in a girl's bowl which were then taken immediately out and put into her pocket. The whole situation was sad.
On our second day we visited the famed Grand Bazaar where there were hundreds of shops and endless souvenir options. It was quite a site. The annoying part of this was that every vendor would try to sell you his items, even if it meant following after you. One man tried to appeal to Rochelle by saying "You want a rug?" while another would try to start conversation with Ghazal by asking if she was Turkish. Another followed me down an entire street trying to get me to buy his knock-off cologne. When he finally got the point that I didn't want it he shared a few choice words for us. This must sound so negative! Overall the Turkish people were amazing and very helpful. They would go out of their way to try and find answers for us. We had lunch at a local restaurant along one of the streets. As I mentioned in my last blog there were cats everywhere! One of them joined us for lunch and was given some food :-) Afterwards we wandered through more streets, finding more vendors, a spice market, and other hidden-away stores which never seemed to end. Finally we reached another mosque located near the Galata Bridge, where we had views of much of Istanbul. At night we returned back to our hostel and then had dinner at a local restaurant where we had a very nice waiter who twice gave us all free tea. Later we went into town and got some dessert...Baklava...the famous dessert from the region!
The next morning we moved to our second hostel named Harmony. Here we had an enormous room accompanied by a shower that would overflow into the entire bathroom. Our third full day in Istanbul included a trip to nearby Princes Island. There didn't seem to be too much to do but we did have lunch on the shore with views of the Black Sea and the Istanbul coastline. It definitely beautiful. After a short walk around we cruised back to the mainland and got ready for a night of clubbing in the Taksim area! Upon arriving to this area we found out that the nightlife didn't really pick up until 1-2AM! All the clubs we were going to were so empty but eventually we found one with some good Turkish house music. We stayed for awhile and made it home around 4-5AM.
On our final day we visited the Topkapi Palace which was the home of the Ottoman Sultans for some 400 years. It had elaborate grounds but due to time constraints and money we decided not to do the indoor tour. Later in the day we traveled across the bridge to the Galeta Tower from which we had views of all of Istanbul. This was great! While it did cost 10 liras (the Turkish currency...about $6.50 USD) just to go to the top, it was well worth it! Afterwards we went back to town and had fresh squeezed pomegranate juice! Fresh squeezed juice stands along the streets were common place and would just just over $1. That night Ghazal and I visited one of the famed Turkish Hammams, or bathhouses. Many of these were built in the 1300-1700s. A bath and massage was a nice, relaxing way to end the trip. We did some final walking around after before heading back to the hostel. The next morning we woke up and took the bus to the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport before heading to London.
This is getting too long! I'll make London brief. We had about a day and a half there which began with our arrival at our hostel after a 1 hour bus ride from Gatwick to central London. We had dinner at KFC...how American! The next day was probably the longest, most tiring, yet productive day so far. In the one day we visited: Buckingham Palace, The Green Park, 10 Downing, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, Tower of London, London Bridge, The Monument, the Swiss RE Tower, Bank of England, St. Paul's Cathedral, Royal Courts of Justice, Royal Opera House, Covent Gardens, and Piccadilly Circus! We were pretty tired by the time the day was over! Highlights were Buckingham where we arrived during a various elaborate changing of the guard ceremony...the Queen must have been home; Houses of Parliament were quite a site; and Piccadilly was like a mini NYC! Something we noticed that was odd was that in London when there was a delay on one of the subways, instead of saying there had just been an incident (as I'm guessing would be done in the US), at the time they said the delays were due to "person under track" which was quite frightening. It was also weird witnessing the whole driving on the opposite side thing! The British people were very nice & helpful in addition to their amazing accents! :-)
Our trip flew by but was amazing! Here are the highlights in pictures (in reverse order, starting with London):
In Piccadilly Circus!
A side view of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
The Swiss RE Tower in London. Such a neat looking building!
The Monument, London. In remembrance of the victims of the Great Fire of London in 1666.
London Bridge.
View of the Houses of Parliament from the Westminster Bridge.
In front of the Houses of Parliament. They were so much more elaborate looking in person!
Rochelle, Ghazal, & I with Big Ben in the background.
In front of Westminster Abbey in London.
A fall view of The Green Park in London which is directly to the side of Buckingham Palace.
Ghazal, Rochelle, & I in front of Buckingham Palace in London. Behind us you can see many of the people gathered for the changing of the guard ceremony.
View of Istanbul, Turkey from the Galata Tower.
The three of us on top of the Galata Tower. From here we had amazing views of all of Istanbul.
A Turkish guard at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. This palace was the official residence of the Ottoman Sultans for some 400 years.
In the Taksim district in Istanbul. This is the center of Turkish nightlife.
I mentioned that cats were everywhere in Istanbul...
Sunset in Istanbul while leaving Princes Island.
Ghazal & I after arriving at Princes Island. You can see views of Istanbul in the background.
A black & white night shot of the Blue Mosque (AKA Sultan Ahmed Mosque).
One of my dinners! Here we have a beef kebab dish with veggies, served with tortillas.
With Ghazal inside the Yeni Mosque in Istanbul.
With Rochelle & Ghazal with views of Istanbul in the background. You can see the Galata Tower, which we visited, to the left of my head.
View of the bustling Spice Market with views of the Istanbul skyline in the background.
The three of us inside the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. There were thousands of shops and people in what seemed like a never-ending array of streets.
Here we are in front of the Hagia Sophia which was once the largest cathedral in the world. It went from a cathedral, to a mosque, and now to a museum and is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture.
